10 tips for writing effective learning objectives
Clear learning objectives help keep an educational activity focused on what learners should achieve. They guide decisions about what to teach, how learners will engage with the content, and how their learning will be assessed.
Writing a good learning objective is not always as simple as it sounds. Is the objective specific enough? Is the action clear and observable? Is it realistic for the time available? And, importantly, will you actually be able to assess whether learners have achieved it?
AO Education Institute’s new 10 tips on writing effective learning objectives provides a quick, practical reference for AO faculty. The tips cover some of the most important things to consider, from focusing on what the learner will do and choosing one observable action, to selecting an appropriate cognitive level and making sure the objective can be assessed.
Whether you are developing a new educational activity or reviewing existing learning objectives, the 10 tips provide a simple checklist to help you make your objectives clearer, more focused, and more useful.
Want to go a little deeper?
The Guide to writing learning objectives takes you through the process step by step. It looks at learning objectives in relation to knowledge, skills, and attitudes and explains how Bloom’s revised taxonomy can help you think about the level of learning required.
The guide also includes suggested action verbs for each level of Bloom’s taxonomy and examples taken from AO education.